METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING A SEARCH RESULTS MODEL AT A SEARCH ENGINE

• US 20070185865A1
• Filed: 01/31/2007
• Published: 08/09/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Northwestern University, Perfect Market, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Media River, Inc.
• Inventors: Hammond, Kristian, Birnbaum, Lawrence, Budzik, Jerome, Crossen, Andrew, Sood, Sanjay
• Granted Patent: US 7,644,072 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/242 Query formulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access

Abstract

Methods and apparatus assessing, ranking, organizing, and presenting search results associated with a user'"'"'s current work context are disclosed. The system disclosed assesses, ranks, organizes and presents search results against a user'"'"'s current work context by comparing statistical and heuristic models of the search results to a statistical and heuristic model of the user'"'"'s current work context. In this manner, search results are assessed, ranked, organized, and/or presented with the benefit of attributes of the user'"'"'s current work context that are predictive of relevance, such as words in a user'"'"'s document (e.g., web page or word processing document) that may not have been included in the search query. In addition, search results from multiple search engines are combined into an organization scheme that best reflects the user'"'"'s current task. As a result, lists of search results from different search engines can be more usefully presented to the user.

Claims

1. A method of displaying ranked search results, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of search results associated with a plurality of documents from a search engine;

receiving a plurality of result models from the search engine, the plurality of result models including a plurality of terms associated with the plurality of documents and a plurality weights associated with the plurality of terms;

comparing data indicative of the plurality of result models to data indicative of a user context to determine a plurality of scores associated with the plurality of search results, the user context including text being accessed by a user; and

generating a display indicative of a ranked list of search results based on at least a portion of the plurality of scores.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user context includes data identifying at least one task out of a plurality of tasks in which the user is engaged while viewing the text.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of result models is based on a frequency of a term in a document in the plurality of documents.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of result models is based on a number of documents in the plurality of documents in which a term occurs.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of result models is based on a list of terms.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the search engine truncates a superset of result models to produce the plurality of result models.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of result models is based on a section of a document where at least one word is located.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of result models is based on an order of words in a document.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of result models is based on a style of at least one word.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of result models is based on metadata associated with the plurality of documents.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of result models is based on at least one of a type of the plurality of documents and a genre of the plurality of documents.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of result models is based on an application in which the plurality of documents were authored.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of result models is based on data indicative of at least one author of the plurality of documents.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of result models is based on data indicative of at least one source of the plurality of documents.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of result models is based on data indicative of at least one task in which at least one author was engaged at the time the at least one author created at least one of the plurality of documents.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the search engine samples a portion of teach of the plurality of documents to produce the plurality of result models.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the search engine randomly samples a portion of each of the plurality of documents to produce the plurality of result models.

18. The method of claim 1, including transmitting a message indicative of the user context to the search engine.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the plurality of result models is based on the user context.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the user context is based on at least five of (a) a location of the at least one predetermined word in the text being accessed by the user, (b) a style of the at least one predetermined word in the text being accessed by the user, (c) a presence of at least one specified word in the text being accessed by the user, (d) an absence of the at least one specified word in the text being accessed by the user, (e) metadata attributes of at least a portion of the text being accessed by the user, (f) a field presented by a computer application, (g) an attribute of information being presented in the computer application, (h) an element of the computer application visible to the user, (i) a document genre, (j) a document type, (k) a type associated with the computer application, (I) a method by which the user is accessing the computer application, (m) a role in an organization, (n) a type of the organization, (o) a property of the organization, (p) a stage in a task, (q) a stage in a workflow, (r) a type of task being supported by the computer application, (s) a stage in a task being executed by the computer application, (t) a pervious user behavior, (u) a topical area of interest, (v) a proportion of hyperlinked text to non-hyperlinked text, and (w) an average sentence length in the text being accessed by the user.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the user context is based on (a) a style of the at least one predetermined word in the text being accessed by the user and (b) a type associated with a computer application.

22. A method of organizing search results, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of search results associated with a plurality of documents from a search engine;

receiving a plurality of result models from the search engine, the plurality of result models including a plurality of terms associated with the plurality of documents and a plurality weights associated with the plurality of terms;

comparing data indicative of the plurality of search results to data indicative of a user context to determine a plurality of organization schemes, the plurality of organization schemes grouping at least a portion of the plurality of search results into at least two genres; and

generating a display indicative of an organized list of search results based on the plurality of organization schemes.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the user context is based on at least five of (a) a location of the at least one predetermined word in the text being accessed by the user, (b) a style of the at least one predetermined word in the text being accessed by the user, (c) a presence of at least one specified word in the text being accessed by the user, (d) an absence of the at least one specified word in the text being accessed by the user, (e) metadata attributes of at least a portion of the text being accessed by the user, (f) a field presented by a computer application, (g) an attribute of information being presented in the computer application, (h) an element of the computer application visible to the user, (i) a document genre, (j) a document type, (k) a type associated with the computer application, (I) a method by which the user is accessing the computer application, (m) a role in an organization, (n) a type of the organization, (o) a property of the organization, (p) a stage in a task, (q) a stage in a workflow, (r) a type of task being supported by the computer application, (s) a stage in a task being executed by the computer application, (t) a pervious user behavior, (u) a topical area of interest, (v) a proportion of hyperlinked text to non-hyperlinked text, and (w) an average sentence length in the text being accessed by the user.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the user context is based on (a) a style of the at least one predetermined word in the text being accessed by the user and (b) a type associated with a computer application.

25. A method of displaying ranked search results, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of search results associated with a plurality of documents from a search engine;

receiving a plurality of result models from the search engine, the plurality of result models including a plurality of terms associated with the plurality of documents and a plurality weights associated with the plurality of terms;

comparing data indicative of the plurality of result models to data indicative of a user context to determine a plurality of scores associated with the plurality of search results, the user context including text being accessed by a user; and

filtering at least one of the plurality of search results from being displayed to the user based on at least a portion of the plurality of scores.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the user context is based on at least five of (a) a location of the at least one predetermined word in the text being accessed by the user, (b) a style of the at least one predetermined word in the text being accessed by the user, (c) a presence of at least one specified word in the text being accessed by the user, (d) an absence of the at least one specified word in the text being accessed by the user, (e) metadata attributes of at least a portion of the text being accessed by the user, (f) a field presented by a computer application, (g) an attribute of information being presented in the computer application, (h) an element of the computer application visible to the user, (i) a document genre, (j) a document type, (k) a type associated with the computer application, (I) a method by which the user is accessing the computer application, (m) a role in an organization, (n) a type of the organization, (o) a property of the organization, (p) a stage in a task, (q) a stage in a workflow, (r) a type of task being supported by the computer application, (s) a stage in a task being executed by the computer application, (t) a pervious user behavior, (u) a topical area of interest, (v) a proportion of hyperlinked text to non-hyperlinked text, and (w) an average sentence length in the text being accessed by the user.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the user context is based on (a) a style of the at least one predetermined word in the text being accessed by the user and (b) a type associated with a computer application.

28. An apparatus for displaying ranked search results, the apparatus comprising:

a processor;

a memory device operatively coupled to the processor;

a user input device operatively coupled to the processor;

a network device operatively coupled to the processor; and

a display device operatively coupled to the processor;

wherein the memory device stores a software program to cause the processor to;

receive a plurality of search results associated with a plurality of documents from a search engine via the network device;

receive a plurality of result models from the search engine via the network device, the plurality of result models including a plurality of terms associated with the plurality of documents and a plurality weights associated with the plurality of terms;

compare data indicative of the plurality of result models to data indicative of a user context to determine a plurality of scores associated with the plurality of search results, the user context including text being accessed by a user via the user input device; and

generate a display via the display device indicative of a ranked list of search results based on at least a portion of the plurality of scores.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the user context is based on at least five of (a) a location of the at least one predetermined word in the text being accessed by the user, (b) a style of the at least one predetermined word in the text being accessed by the user, (c) a presence of at least one specified word in the text being accessed by the user, (d) an absence of the at least one specified word in the text being accessed by the user, (e) metadata attributes of at least a portion of the text being accessed by the user, (f) a field presented by a computer application, (g) an attribute of information being presented in the computer application, (h) an element of the computer application visible to the user, (i) a document genre, (j) a document type, (k) a type associated with the computer application, (I) a method by which the user is accessing the computer application, (m) a role in an organization, (n) a type of the organization, (o) a property of the organization, (p) a stage in a task, (q) a stage in a workflow, (r) a type of task being supported by the computer application, (s) a stage in a task being executed by the computer application, (t) a pervious user behavior, (u) a topical area of interest, (v) a proportion of hyperlinked text to non-hyperlinked text, and (w) an average sentence length in the text being accessed by the user.

30. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the user context is based on (a) a style of the at least one predetermined word in the text being accessed by the user and (b) a type associated with a computer application.

31. A computer readable medium storing a software program to cause a computing device to:

receive a plurality of search results associated with a plurality of documents from a search engine;

receive a plurality of result models from the search engine, the plurality of result models including a plurality of terms associated with the plurality of documents and a plurality weights associated with the plurality of terms;

compare data indicative of the plurality of result models to data indicative of a user context to determine a plurality of scores associated with the plurality of search results, the user context including text being accessed by a user; and

generate a display indicative of a ranked list of search results based on at least a portion of the plurality of scores.

32. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein the user context is based on at least five of (a) a location of the at least one predetermined word in the text being accessed by the user, (b) a style of the at least one predetermined word in the text being accessed by the user, (c) a presence of at least one specified word in the text being accessed by the user, (d) an absence of the at least one specified word in the text being accessed by the user, (e) metadata attributes of at least a portion of the text being accessed by the user, (f) a field presented by a computer application, (g) an attribute of information being presented in the computer application, (h) an element of the computer application visible to the user, (i) a document genre, (j) a document type, (k) a type associated with the computer application, (I) a method by which the user is accessing the computer application, (m) a role in an organization, (n) a type of the organization, (o) a property of the organization, (p) a stage in a task, (q) a stage in a workflow, (r) a type of task being supported by the computer application, (s) a stage in a task being executed by the computer application, (t) a pervious user behavior, (u) a topical area of interest, (v) a proportion of hyperlinked text to non-hyperlinked text, and (w) an average sentence length in the text being accessed by the user.

33. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein the user context is based on (a) a style of the at least one predetermined word in the text being accessed by the user and (b) a type associated with a computer application.